A city says thank-you
‘I think I’m the hottest guy in Buffalo’: Dalton’s charity is raking in money from Bills fans
Although they’re more known for occasionally lighting themselves on fire, jumping onto tables and doing other zany things, Buffalo Bills fans are celebrating their first National Football League playoff berth since 1999 in a pretty uplifting way.
They’re flooding the charity run by Andy Dalton, the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback whose touchdown pass beat the Baltimore Ravens and secured Buffalo’s wild-card berth, with cold, hard cash. Dalton was as amazed as J.J. Watt, whose fund for hurricane Harvey relief reached $37 million last fall, as he watched the contributions roll in to the Andy and Jordan Dalton Foundation. At one point Monday night, he tweeted, “We are getting 10 donations a minute!” He finally called it a night, saying that “over 2,500 donors” had brought in “just over $57,000.”
And, by midday Monday, the contributions had topped $100,000 from over 4,500 donors, with Dalton setting a goal of $150,000. “We are blown away and so grateful for the amount of generosity we have been receiving,” he tweeted.
“I think I’m the hottest guy in Buffalo right now,” Dalton joked to reporters Monday. “According to my Twitter, I think everybody’s loving us right now. Obviously, that’s a crazy fan base, and they’re all pretty excited.”
And, in case you’re wondering, many donations were arriving in $17 increments because the Bills have gone 17 seasons without a playoff appearance.
“We’re appreciative of that. Obviously, they’re helping out a good cause,” he said. “It’s been pretty fun to see the reaction we’ve gotten.”
The Daltons’ foundation says its mission is “to provide daily support, opportunities, resources and life-changing experiences to seriously ill and physically challenged children and their families in Cincinnati and Fort Worth,” and at least one Bills fan thinks the generosity should extend beyond Dalton. After all, someone had to catch the pass on the fourth-and-12, 49 scoring play late in the game. “Don’t forget some love for Tyler Boyd,” David Zolnowski wrote on the team’s Facebook page. “After all, he caught the TD.”
The rest of the Bengals cashed in, too, because the Bills sent a shipment of wings to Cincy.